Sheet-driving mechanism for automatic players.



P. W. DRAPER.

SHEET DRIVING MEGHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS.

APPLIOATION FILED MARfz, 1911. y

1,071,897, Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. w. DRAPER. SHEET DRIVING MBCHANISM POR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 23, 1911. n

Patented Sepf. 2, 1913.

J 2 SHEETS-.SHEET 2.

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Witwe/omo Md/(d- M 4 4 A v l v @Heaney/:V

UNITED ysinistres PATENT oneven.

In@ 75 W. DRAPER, 0F RICHMND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TD STARR .PIANO (Kitti- IANY, OF RICHMONI?, INDIANA., A GOB/POBTIGN GF INDIANA.. l

spammenofmwnrarene. JPatented sept. 2, 19113.v

'Original application tiled August 24, 1910, Serial Ko. 578,780. Divided and this application led March 23,

` 1911. serial No. 613,343.

Toallv whom t muy concern l Be it known that I, FnANcis W.v DRAPEB,

" a citizen ofy uw United states, residing si Richmond, inthe county-of Wayne and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Sheet-Drivin Mechanism for Automatic Players, of w ich the following is a specification.

The object of myv invention 'is to vprovide a mechanism by means -of which the music sheet may be driven, preferably at a hi h4 rate of speed, in a'forward direction Witout the actuation of the sound producing mechanism theV construction being such that vportions of any music sheet may be'rapidly The accompanying drawings illustrate my inyention.

lWindy trunk 18.

,13 and fin er keys 14. `The pneumatic ac- .,tions '(pre erably comprising`- primary, sec

ondary, and power pneumat1cs,) act upon the piano actions 13 1n any desired manner and are arranged 1n several horizontal series .carried by transverse action trunks 15, these Several trunks being connected at thelr op- 'posite ends to vertical wind trunks 16-16 which, attheir tops, are connected through openings 17-17 -With a main transverse These several parts are rmly, though detachably connected together t-o form aunitary structure, the parte' of'which`may bedisassembled only by first ,remoyin'g the structure as a Whole from the piano. casing. Each of the vertical trunks 16 is provided with an outwardly projecting y .ledge 19 adapted to rest upon the upper'edge of theside rail 21 of the casing 10. The bot- Atombourd 22 of trunk 18 is transversely pierced by a plurality of passages 23, lone for each tracker `board opening, and :neunted in opposite ends of each passage 23 are two nipples24 and Each nipple is connected by a tube 26, Whichvmay conveniently be ieXibleY as usual, with an opening in .the tracker'board 27, and each nipple 25 .is connected by a tube 28 with a similar primary pneumatic. Mounted upon the top oi' the main transnipple 29 which leads to the pouch of,

verse Wind trunk 18, at about its middle, is

the open` faced box 31 which carries the tracker board 27 4and the associated sheet Winding rolls, said associated sheet Winding rolls being driven in a Well .known manner, in either direction, by means of awind motor 32 which is also supported upon the top of the wind trunk 18 and connected to the sheet driving roll by reversing gearing otby a readily removable cover board 42.

Mounted upon the rear ot' box 41 is a base controller 43, a treble controller 44, a'motcr controller 45 and an action rail controller 46. Arranged Within box 41 are partitions 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53 which divide the .interior of said box to form a chamber 54, a main controller chamber 55, a buss passage 56, a treble passage 57, an intermediate passage 58 and a motor controlling' chamber 59. The main passage 121 leads from5the main chamber 54 of box 41 and is connected by a pipe 122 which isv readily detachable l .128 is slidably mounted upon rod 129 and is normally yieldingly urgedagainst an adjustable nut 131 by means` of a spring 182, the tension or' which may be adjusted by a nut 133. The nuts-131 and '133 are mounted upon suitably formed threads on rod 129,`

the arrangement being such that the rod 129 may have a limited play throughl the valve 128 after said valve has been brought into position to close passage Leading .hrough partition 51- and forming a direct connection between the main chamber of box 41 and the motor chamber 59, is a passage 135 which may be opened and closed by the reroll valve. 136 connected by a suitable rider 137 with rod 129, this valve being so arranged that it will close passage 135 when valve 128 is away from passage 127. Leading from the chamber 54 of box 41 into the interior of the motor controller 45 is a passage 138, the size of which may be controlled by a valve 139 connected to the movable member of the controller 45, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. This movable member of the controller 45 ismoved in one direction by means of a spring` 64 which is carried by an adjustable stem 65. Leading from the interior of controller 45 into the chamber 59 is a passage 141 which is preferably of the form shown in dotted lines in F ig. 2, the initial end being comparatively wide and short and having a continuation which is comparatively narrow and gradually widens throughout its length. Mounted Within chamber 59 so as to cover .the pressure sideof passage 141 is a motor-controlling valve 142 which is keyed to a rock shaft-'143 journaled in suitable bearings in the cover board 42 and in the rear board of box 41, the last mentioned mounting being readily longitudinally separable, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the shaft 14-3 will be withdrawn with the cover 42. Valve 142 has a slight longit-udinal play upon the rock shaft 143 and is yieldingly urged to a seat against the pressure side of passage 141 by means of a light spring 144. The outer end of shaft 143 is projected beyond the outer face of cover 42` and secured to this projected end is a. lever 145 by Ameans of which the valve 142 may be adjusted relative to passage 141 and thus control the velocity of air which may be drawn at any particular time by the bellows from the motor so as to thus control the speed of the motor.

Lever 145 is connectedby a link 146 to a lever 147 connected in any suitable land common manner with a controlling lever 148 which is arranged at the fron-t of the key bed and this link 146 isA connected with the rod 149 slidably mounted in suitable bearings as shown in Fig. 1 and provided with a pointer 151 arranged. to traverse a tempo scale 152 mounted Within sight Within the tracker board box 31. Rod 129 is projected through one of the end boards of box 41 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and to this projected end is secured an arm 153 which is connected to a rod 154 slidably mounted in suitable bearings on the front of the upper Wind trunk 18 and this rod is connected by a lever 155 and any4or dinary and usual intermediate connections with a` roll controlling lever 156 mounted at the front of the key board.

'differences in las to drive the motor Rod 154 car open to closed position and vice versav Without Acausing any action of lever 33, Which serves to reverse the action of the motor on the music sheet. The passage 165 forms the communication between chamber 36 of trunk 18 and the motor chamber 59 of box 41.

lVith the parts inthe position shown in the drawings, the operation so far vas the i sheet driving mechanism is concerned, is asl follows: The reroll valve 136 is over open-- ing 135 and the'lever 33 is therefore in such position as to connect the motor with the sheet winding mechanism in such way as to drive the same forward. Inorder to start the motor, the operator will shift lever 148 to the left thus swinging lever 145 so as to swing valve 142 to the right in Fig. 2. This will open opening 141 to a greater or lesser `extent andthe air from the motor Will have to pass through this opening into 'the motor controller 45 and thence through passage 138 into chamber 54 and from thence to the bellows, the speed of the motor being deter-mined by the position of valve 142, and the controller 45 opening and closing the valve 138 automatically to compensate for vacuum produced by the bellows, in ,the usual manner.

Itis often desirable to skip'portions of a perforated musicsheet and it has heretofore been proposed to make such skipping possible by providing a cover for the' tracker board so as to prevent ingress of air as the perforated portions of the music sheet pass over the tracker board, but such an arrangement is objectionable because vof the clumsy appearance of the cover and because of the improper Wear upon the music sheet. In order toaccomplish this result, therefore, the collars 157 and 158 on rod .154 are spaced far enough Valve 128 and an opening ofv valve 136 without any movement of lever when it is in position to produce forward` movement of the Sheet driving mechanism. By this apart to permit a closing ofv arrangement further exhaustion of air from the pneumatic action trunks is prevented and a direct connection is made between the bellows and motor, thus cutting `out or short-circuiting the motor controller 45 so ahead at fullpspeed, and vconsequently drive the music sheet' ahead at full speed suction upon the primary valve chambers which communicate With the 'tracker board, there will, of course, be no actuation of the pneumatic action. This position oflparts is obtained by an intermediate position of the reroll lever 156. Further movement but, there being no .claimed in this-appl 3 of the lever in reroll ldirection brings collar 157 into engagement with lever 33 so as to reversethe driving train, the spring 132 permittingthisaction of rod 129 while valve 128 is kept closed overpassage 127.

Certain of the features shown but not Patent -NoL 1,016,91 granted to me on February 6, 1912, on application ,Serial No.

578 780, liled August 24, 1911), and Patent N6.}1,021,305, granted to meon March 26,

- 1912,.on application Serial No.' 616,349, tiled March 23, 1911, of the former of which ap- .and sheet-sup between 'plications'pth'e,present applicationis a division.- v

.'I 'claim-as my invention:- v

1. Inj-a player mechanism, a bellows, a pneumatic motor, sheet-supporting mechanism, a 'driving train between the motor rting mechanism, a reversing member or reversing tlie connections the motor and the sheet-su porting mechanism, aconnection between t e motor and bellows, a valve controlling said connection, a pneumatic action, a connection between said, pneumatic actionv and bellows,

' 'a valvev for controlling said connection, a

4.valve stem controlling both of 'said valves,

connection between one of said ai Spring valves and the valve-stem whereby the stem may .move independently of the spring-connected valve,l and a connectlon between said ation are claimed in pneumatic motor, shee valve stem and reversing 4member of the driving train, said connection having a limited play relative tothe reversing member whereby the valves may be opened and t-'supporting' mechanism, a driving train. between the motor and sheet-supporting reversing member ,for reversing the connections between the motor andthe sheetsupporting mechanism, a connection between the motor, and bellows, a valve conv trolling said connection, a4 pneumatic acthis 18th day of March,` A. D. one thousand nine hundred and eleven.`

FRANCIS W. DRAPER. [1.. sg] Witnesses;

ARNOLD E. Prnurnn, WILL H. WHH'ELY.

.closed with orY without actuation of the reversing member.

2. In a yplayer mechanism a bellows, a

mechanism, a. l 

